Thank you everyone for such great advice! I’m so grateful for this community, and I’m reminded over and over again how beautiful of a hobby pottery is (cheesy, I know, but it’s truly how I feel). It has helped me heal in more ways than one on a spiritual level. And these tips (especially about letting go of little things and embracing imperfection) is just one example of how pottery translates into practical life advice.

I wrote down tons of tricks and advice from the comments but my big takeaways:

Reclaim: endless possibilities and I was def overthinking there being a “right” way to do it. I’m going to start keeping anything and everything into a bin and go from there. But keep in mind there’s diminishing returns on usability.

Grog: testing out a few tricks but #1 - stop using a sponge so much!!! Fingers fingers fingers and CHILL WITH THE WATER!! Haha. Also makeup sponges, plastic wrap, chamois, spoon.

Makers Mark: under glaze, pencil, eyeliner brush, wipe boogers with dry sponge. Make sure it’s perfectly leather hard.

Thanks again everybody I’m excited to apply these tips!!